SPRINGFIELD --Despite a puck drop scheduled at 10:30 a.m., the Springfield Thunderbirds did not sleepwalk through their matchup against the Charlotte Checkers Wednesday -- coming out on top, 5-3, in a back-and-forth affair.

Tim Erixon provided the heroics for Springfield, firing home a one-timer during a 5-on-3 sequence with 1:24 left in the third for the game-winning goal.

Blaine Byron, Thomas Schemitsch, Bobby Farnham and Alex Grenier also scored for the Thunderbirds, who improve to 5-11-1-0 this year and have won three games in a row.

Harri Sateri earned the start in net for the second straight game, stopping 24 of the 27 shots that came his way during Wednesday's matchup.

"I think a lot of things have changed," Erixon said of Springfield's recent play. "It sounds boring, but it's just hard work. We're doing the right thing, guys are buying in and we have a little more swagger. There's a little more belief in yourself and we're doing the right things."

Despite Wednesday's early start, the MassMutual Center still retained plenty of energy -- due in large part to a crowd teeming with school students. Over 3,000 students from the Springfield, Chicopee and Holyoke Public School systems were in attendance as part of the team's first "T-Birds 101 School Day Game."

The entire fifth grade of the Springfield Public School's were present at the MassMutual Center, which posted a total attendance of 5,005.

"We put a lot of work into this," Thunderbirds president Nathan Costa said of Wednesday's school day game. "We started the conversation last year with the Springfield Public Schools. We had the entire fifth grade come out and just provide an experience that a lot of these kids haven't been able to get before.

"We heard from a lot of the administrators that a lot of these kids haven't had a chance to step foot in this building. ... "It was an AHL best practice. We've seen this work in a ton of other markets. It was great to bring it to Springfield."

Springfield Central's ROTC presented the colors prior to Wednesday's national anthem, which was performed by first and fifth graders at the Rebecca M. Johnson School. Springfield Public Schools superintendent Daniel J. Warwick took part in the ceremonial puck drop to close out the pregame festivities.

Even with the impressive turnout, Costa noted that ticket sales weren't the focus during Wednesday's game.

"It was fun," Costa said. "We were talking earlier, the kids were following along with all the songs and the dance moves. It was really neat for me to see, coming from Springfield, and being able to do something with the public school system.

"We've talked about doing things right by the community and this was just one of those things where we can take a game that's traditionally very challenging to sell and do something that's completely impactful on some kid's lives. This isn't about selling tickets, it's about giving kids an experience that they're not able to get anywhere else."

As expected, it took some time for both teams to get into a groove during the morning meeting, with Charlotte recording three shots on goal though the first 13 minutes of play.

"It's definitely a little different," Erixon said of the early start. "Especially getting out there for warmups. You're still kind of half asleep. But you just have to find a way. It's 76 games in a season. You're not going to feel great in all of them. You just need to find a way to be ready for all of them."

A hooking call against Checkers defenseman Josh Wesley led to Springfield's first tally on the night, with Grenier feeding the puck to a waiting Byron camped out in the slot.

The University of Maine product did not hesitate, snapping the puck over Checkers goalie Alex Nedeljikovic for the power-play strike at 18:23.

Byron's tally woke up the dormant Checkers, as Janne Kuokkanen skated across the crease and beat Sateri with a backhand feed just 37 seconds later to end the first period in a 1-1 deadlock.

"I liked our start today," Springfield head coach Geordie Kinnear said. "I thought that was the best offensive game in the offensive zone. Our power play has created an identity which has gone to five-on-five a little bit. We can still take pucks to the net a little harder at times, but I liked our offensive game."

A blue-line snipe from Charlotte winger Valentin Zykov gave the Checkers its first lead of the morning at 3:52, but Schemitsch tied things up less than three minutes later.

After a strong forechecking shift from the T-Birds, a shot from Tony Turgeon bounced off of Nedeljikovic and slid to Schemitsch, who tucked the puck just past the Charlotte goalie to make it a 2-2 game at 6:03.

Springfield had a chance to regain the lead after getting a stint on the power play at 11:21, but Warren Foegele made the T-Birds pay, taking advantage of a turnover and beating Sateri five hole for a shorthanded goal at 11:46.

The Thunderbirds countered once again at 15:51 in the second, with North Andover's Farhnam taking a pass from Grener and wristing one home for his first goal of the year to tie things up.

Erixon gave Springfield its first lead since the first period off his one-time shot with 1:24 to go after Charlotte was depleted due to a pair of penalties, while Grenier notched an empty-net goal with two seconds left to close out the win.

The Thunderbirds will resume play on Friday, as they will host the Checkers once again for a matchup at the MassMutual Center, with the game set to start at 7:05 p.m.